Desert Heat Read Free Page B

siesta?”
      “Please, Mr. Malone? Mike? I’m not on
vacation. Don’t feel you need to wait on me. I’m sure you have guests who need
looking after. I’m fine on my own.”
    His mouth
tightened. “Haven’t you noticed, Miss James? You’re the sole visitor on The Cholla.”
He waved a hand in a wide arc. “There’s not a single paying customer on the
place. In fact, there’s virtually no one here. I have less than a skeleton
staff on board.”
      “What?” She gaped at him. “Why on earth don’t
you have tourists? This is a guest ranch? Isn’t this the busiest time of year
for you? I thought it seemed slow, but I assumed everyone had a day off or
something.”
      “Normally we should be at capacity right now.”
He fought to keep the anger from his voice. “But I have legal issues which prevent
me from operating until we get them untangled. So, you see, it wasn’t a
hardship to have Skeeter stay here.”
      “I don’t understand.”
      “Until I get a matter settled, I’m prohibited
from running my business.” In spite of his effort not to let bitterness show,
it filled his voice. “Thanks to a bunch of busybodies with nothing better to do
than harass me, there isn’t a single guest on the premises.”  
      “Then I shouldn’t be here,” Mallory said,
turning toward the lodge. “I’ll make other arrangements.”
    Mike grabbed her
wrist and warmth spread through her. “Yes, you should stay here. I’m not
allowed to have paying customers, but I can have a personal guest. God knows I
need something, anything, to do to keep me from going crazy.”
    Although innocent,
his words heated her insides. “Are you certain?”
      “Positive.” He let go of her. “Come on, let’s
have lunch. You can leave after you eat.”
    She bit her lip as
she decided. “Okay then. On one condition.”
      “Which is?”
      “That you tell me every single thing you know
about my father.”
    ~*~
    Mallory leaned
against the industrial-sized sink and watched Mike prepare two ham and cheese
sandwiches. When he’d opened the huge, silver refrigerator, she’d seen enough
food to feed fifty. Although she wanted to pry, find out what the group he
mentioned could possibly hold over him to keep him from his work, she kept her
questions to herself. Whatever had happened, it was none of her business.
      “We can eat on my patio, if you like,” he
suggested, carrying both plates.
    They sat together,
the February sun warm on their backs. Mallory eyed her plate appreciatively.
Along with making sandwiches, he’d halved a cantaloupe, using it for a berry
bowl. He’d also brought along a pitcher of iced tea and poured them both a
glass. “This is lovely. If only this were just a vacation.”
      “I’m sorry for the reason, but you’re welcome
to relax while you’re here,” Mike offered. “You’re more than welcome to use the
pool, the horses, anything you like. Although, if you do
decide to ride I have to ask you to stay out of the desert. You can go
down the roads.”
      “Thank you,” she murmured. She bet his
business ran very successfully if this was the way he treated paying customers. Although she did wonder why she couldn’t go to the desert. Taking a deep breath, she said, “What I’d really like is to hear about my dad.”
    He frowned. “What
do you want to know?”
      “You apparently knew my father. That’s more
than I can say. He left my mother and me when I was only five years old. We
never heard a word again. My mother was frantic to find him. They hadn’t
fought, had no problems to speak of, and wham, he just disappears without a
trace. About six months later, we got one letter that said he needed time to
figure some things out, but that was it. Not another word.”
      “I don’t know what I can tell you.” A small
frown played around his mouth, and she wondered about it. Didn’t he want to
talk about her dad?
      “Anything. I would
like to know the smallest details. When